October 9, 2010

Well, another very busy workweek is behind me, and I’m feeling the guilt of not having blogged since last weekend’s Layered Fiesta Dip. It’s not that I haven’t cooked this week, but I haven’t made many new things and certainly haven’t had any free time to talk about it!

Early this week though, before the mad rush of work took over my time, I did make these muffins.

Since it’s officially Autumn now, and there is no longer any way I can remain deluded about it, my taste-buds are beginning to crave one of those familiar Fall favorties – pumpkin! Spawn #2 is crazy about my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread, but it’s not a gluten-free recipe and I was determined to give him the taste he was looking for in a treat that Spawn #1 could enjoy as well.

I thought about converting my tried-and-true recipe into a gluten-free version, but I really didn’t have the time to experiment. After all, if the conversion flopped, I would be faced with my Spawns’ dissapointment and no extra time to make up for it. I was determined not to let my babies down!

There has yet to be a recipe from this book that hasn’t worked for me. We love Annalise’s Blueberry Muffins and her Chocolate Fudge Cake, the latter of which I haven’t posted for you yet but really, really need to do so soon! Even when I change up the recipes a bit, I have success, like with my Rosemary and Sea Salt French Baguette.

So, I decided to give her Pumpkin Muffins a try. I did alter the spices in the recipe, since it calls for not just Cinnamon and Nutmeg (which are also used to flavor my traditional Pumpkin Bread) but also Ginger, Cloves and Molasses. I was a little fearful of a very Gingerbread-y tasting Pumpkin Muffin and – I don’t know about you but I’m just not ready for Christmas flavors yet!

So here’s what I used in my version of these muffins, which turned out beautifully by the way! Of course, if they hadn’t, I wouldn’t be posting them here. That is my continued promise to you – I’ll never post a lousy recipe!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix (*see below)

1 cup Sugar

1 tsp Baking Soda

3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum

3/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon (I increased this from the 1/2 tsp the recipe called for since I was omitting other spices)

The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in one of the center ones comes out clean.

Remove from pan immediately to a wire rack. I use a soup spoon to gently lift the muffins out.

Let cool before serving.

These muffins were very tasty, and even better the next day with my morning coffee once the chocolate chips firmed up. The Molasses did give these a slight Gingerbread flavor that I don’t get with my traditional Pumpin Bread and I’m really glad that I left out the Ginger and Cloves because that probably would have been over-the-top. Nonetheless, nearer to the Holidays, I’ll try this recipe as written when I can better appreciate those flavors!